Changes to Holiday Pay

There have been further changes to the law in relation to holiday pay, following on from the Bear Scotland, and British Gas cases we reported on last year. Employees are now being limited to backdating any claims for holiday pay, to no more than 2 years.

Further, the Northern Irish Court of Appeal brought out a new decision last week claiming that voluntary overtime could in principle also now be covered under these new rules. This is not a binding decision in English, Welsh and Scottish courts, but it is an indication that the law could be further extended in this area.

We have therefore compiled all the information together into concise guidance notes, and suggested a new annual leave policy, that we would recommend all employers begin to use with immediate effect.

A reminder that backdating holiday claims have now been capped at 2 years, further details of this can be found in the guidance note.